June 23, 2019 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

SUMMER IS HERE
BY JOHN BERRY

Last week I was fishing on a sunny day, with temperatures in the nineties and little if any wind. When I got off the river, my Suburban had been sitting in the sun for hours and was toasty warm. I was perspiring, when I headed home. It took a cold shower and a change of clothing to cool me down. Summer is here and we have to deal with it. Here in Arkansas summers can get pretty hot. Over the years, I have developed strategies to survive summer fishing.

The first is to wade. To me, there is nothing like wade fishing, with the water lapping against my waders, being surrounded by gin clear water and being able to easily see the fish. The water is a constant fifty seven degrees. If you want to cool off you just wade a little deeper. If it is brutally hot (over a hundred degrees) I will wet wade. I wear my wading boots with neoprene booties but no waders. It is minimalism at its finest. Dress to get wet. If you are too hot, take a swim. This is the ultimate hot weather survival strategy.

There is only one problem. The water has to be low enough to wade. That is great right now but in a few days downstream flooding is going to clear and the Corps of Engineers is going to begin generation with a vengeance. I expect high water for most of the summer. In situations like that, there are streams like the Spring River, the North Fork of the White, the Buffalo River and Crooked Creek that are not subject to generation.

You can fish early or fish late to avoid the heat of the day. I prefer to fish early before the sun has risen high in the sky. I will get on the river before sunrise. There is nothing more beautiful than the sun rising and cutting through the fog. The problem here is that my regular fishing buddy, my wife, Lori, is not an early riser. By the time she is up and has walked our dogs, it is getting warm. A lot of times I will go early and meet up with her when she arrives.

Finally there is the strategy of dressing for the heat and fishing trough it. In a boat there is nowhere to hide. You need to protect your skin from the sun and take advantage of any breeze. You want light breathable fabrics. I wear lightly colored tropical pants and long sleeved shirts. I always wear sun gloves. A lot of my fellow guides wear Buffs (light woven fabric neck gear that can be pulled to protect their faces and ears but I prefer full brimmed straw hats. I wear light wading shoes to complete my gear. All of it is light and quick drying and I can take a quick dip to cool off.

It is possible to handle the heat. Get ready it is coming.

February 2, 2019 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

NEW FISHING PRODUCTS THAT I HAVE ADOPTED
BY JOHN BERRY
With my fishing gear, I am very much a traditionalist. My favorite fishing rod is a Sage Light Line that I have fished with for about thirty years. The Orvis CFO reel that I use is the same age. I still wear a traditional fishing vest and an ancient cowboy hat, when fishing. For me to adopt new gear, it must function better than the gear that I am using.

My first fly rod was fiberglass. I was perfectly satisfied with it until my brother bought a new Sage graphite rod. I cast it once and had to have one. Except for a brief flirtation bamboo fly rods, I have fished graphite rods every since simply because they cast better than anything else. Similarly, my first waders were neoprene. I was satisfied with them until I tried breathable waders. I have worn nothing else for the last twenty years.

Recently, I was introduced to a new strike indicator, the air lock. Over the years, I have used dozens of different strike indicators and found them lacking in one way or another. I have been using Tru Turn and Thingamabobber strike indicators. The Tru Turn indicators were two pieces of plastic foam connected with a piece of rubber band. It held well and did not slip. It was infinitely adjustable and you could easily add it to your rigging after you tied on your fly. The problem was that the rubber band would fail over time and the strike indicator would fail.

The Thingamabobber (I love the name) would float heavy rigs and hang on well. The problem was that it would slip on smaller tippets and would leave a serious kink in your line that was impossible to remove. I used the Tru Turn (which was smaller) when I was wade fishing and the Thingamabobber when I was drifting in the boat.

The airlock is a plastic bubble that looks a lot like the Thingamabobber. It attaches to the leader with a slotted stem which accepts the leader and a plastic washer and nut to lock it down. These strike indicators do not slip or kink the line and they are very easy to see. You can add them to your leader after you tie on the fly.

I have also switched over to a new net. For several years I have been using a beautiful large Brodin wooden boat net with a clear rubber net bag in my boat and on Dry Run Creek. It was large enough to handle the largest trout, had a very long handle and was light enough to use all day. There is something about a wooden net that appeals to me. The problem was that the wooden frame was kept constantly wet in my boat and it was beginning to delaminate.

I replaced it with a Fish Pond Nomad guide net. It is light weight (it floats), has a large clear rubber net bag and a long handle. I like it so much that I got my wife, Lori, one just like it to use on Dry Run Creek. I have used it for a few years now and found it to be just about indestructible. It is scratched up a bit but still very functional. I have also acquired a smaller version of it with a shorter handle to carry when I am wade fishing.

There is always some new gear coming out. Some of it is worth checking out.

John Berry

June 22, 2018 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

SOME THINGS DON’T GET BETTER WITH AGE
BY JOHN BERRY
The other day my wife, Lori, returned from a trip to Memphis to put on a fly casting seminar for the Mid South fly Fishers, our old fishing club. She was storing some food items in the refrigerator that she had picked up while she was on her trip. She needed a bit of space in the fridge and began checking the use by dates on everything to eliminate expired items. Out went milk, yogurt, cream cheese and some funky looking diced cantaloupe. As I was helping with this, I thought about other things that did not age well. Not everything is like wine and good cheese that actually improves with age.

The first thing that came to mind was monofilament, the basic nylon material used in fishing leaders and tippet. It degrades over time. If you keep it too long it will become a bit more brittle and can break easily. Monofilament leaders are made from the same material and have the same properties. I formerly used only Orvis tippet because it featured a use by date. For some inexplicable reason they discontinued featuring a use by date on its tippets and leaders. I personally think it was because obsolete material was hard to sell.

I find that monofilament begins to degrade in about a year. Therefore, I recommend that you replace your monofilament every year. It is easy enough.  Just buy new tippet every time you renew your fishing license. This may seem like a bit of expense. It is not too much when you consider that a five dollar spool of new tippet could easily save you from losing a couple of two and a half dollar flies (I always use double fly rigs) on a single hookup.

This is no problem for me. As a guide, I can go through a new spool of tippet in a couple of days of guiding. Since a regular thirty yard spool of tippet will only rig about thirty rods (it takes two eighteen inch sections of tippet to rig a double fly rig), I buy the 100 yard spools. I usually six at a time and they never go bad. I do take a Sharpie and note the date I bought it. I pretty much do the same thing with leaders.

When I am on a guide trip, the first thing that I check is the rigging on my client’s rods. I always ask the same question, how old is this leader? If it is a year or older, I change it for a brand new leader. I always put on new tippets.

It should be noted that fluorocarbon tippets and leaders are much more durable. In fact they can last much longer. The only problem is that they cost three times as much as monofilament. If you don’t use that much tippet and you keep it for a long time, fluorocarbon is a good deal. It is also a bit stronger and very abrasion resistant.

Take a minute and check out your leaders and tippet. It may save you the fish of a lifetime.

John Berry

April 20, 2018 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

SMALL MISTAKES CAN LOSE BIG FISH
BY JOHN BERRY

You are out there and everything is going great. You have landed several good trout and all of a sudden a big brown hits your fly. You deftly set the hook and the fight is on. All you need to do is bring it to the net. It is not easily done. If you make one tiny error it’s all over.

The key here is line control. You have to bring it in. Big fish are reluctant to accommodate you. For me the key is to fight them on the reel. Most of my clients prefer to fight fish by stripping in the line. This is my pet peeve.

It drives me crazy to have a client get in my boat with a high dollar rod and an $800.00 Abel reel only to try and land a big fish by stripping in the line. I had a client struggle with a twenty seven inch brown only to lose it because he was standing on the line. I make it a habit to land all of my fish on the reel no matter how small it is. That way, when I hook up a big trout, I am familiar with landing fish on a reel and it feels comfortable to me.

There will be situations where you will have to put the fish on the reel. If you are fishing a woolly bugger or other streamer and you hit a good fish on the retrieve, how do you get all of the slack line in? The best way is to let the trout do the work. If it takes a run, carefully let the line run through your fingers until it is on the reel. If it is not cooperative, you will have to crank in the excess. Take your pinkie and put pressure on the extra line as you wind it on the reel. If the line is wound in loosely, it can tangle and cause you to lock up the reel and lose the fish.

Another mistake is to not have the drag on your reel properly set. It should be adjusted to accommodate the tippet you are using. When I am guiding on Dry Run Creek I use 4X fluorocarbon tippet to help in getting kids to land big trout and therefore really tighten up on the drag. If I am fishing dainty emergers on the Norfork on 6X tippet I have the drag set much lighter so that the line can easily go out without breaking my tippet. If you are not sure, you can set the drag by tying the tippet to your bumper and apply pressure to it with your rod.  The idea is for the line to smoothly come off the reel and still apply as much pressure as possible without breaking.

When your trout makes a run, don’t try to keep it from moving. Don’t lock down the line by squeezing the line against the rod or holding the reel handle tightly. If a fish cannot run, it can break your tippet. I try to not touch the reel handle unless I am cranking line.

Remember that only one of you can do something at a time. If the trout is struggling don’t try to crank it in. However, if the trout is running toward you, crank in line to keep the ling snug.

Always keep the rod bent. Your rod is your pressure gauge. If the line is bent there is pressure on the fish. More bend equals more pressure. If the rod is not bent, that means that there is slack in the line and the trout can spit the hook. Do not try to horse in the trout. If you put too much pressure on the trout, you can break it off.

When you are bringing in a trout, always leave a few inches of line out of the rod. If you crank the end of the line up into the rod the knot attaching the leader to the line could get caught in one of the snake guides and not allow the fish to pull line, if it makes a last minute run. This could allow it to break off.

Carefully tie your knot when rigging. If the knot is not properly tied it can slip and you can lose the fish. If you lose a trout because you lost the fly, look at the end of your tippet. If the end is curled in a tight pig tail, your knot failed.

Check your hook often. If it is dull or bent, it can easily come out.

To land a big fish you need a net. A small one will not do in this situation. I always carry a big net in the boat or when wading. Don’t try to net the trout too soon. Wait until it is on the surface of the water so you can easily scoop it. Patience is the key here.

If you can remember these tips, you can prevent many of the small errors that can lose big fish.

John Berry

berrybrothers@infodash.com

www.berrybrothersguides.com

(870) 435-2169

(870) 404-8015

October 27, 2017 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

NETTING TROUT
BY JOHN BERRY

It can be the exhilarating climax of a long difficult struggle or a crushing defeat on stream. For me, as a guide, it all comes down to netting my client’s trout. The process, of netting a trout, is even more critical on Dry Run Creek. The client is much less experienced and the fish is much larger. I see it time and time again that most trout are lost at the net.  There are a few things to consider when attempting to net a fish.

First, make sure that your net is big enough. This is one of my pet peeves. I have seen it again and again where an angler is trying to net a big fish and just does not have a big enough net to land it. A little net will just make a big trout angry. A little net is acceptable, when you are fishing on tiny streams, in the Smokies, where the biggest trout you are likely to land is maybe twelve inches long. Around here you have to realize that the next trout you land could be a world record. We have some absolutely huge trout and you need to carry the biggest net that you can lay your hands on.

I currently use a Fish Pond Nomad Boat net. It is the largest net that Fish Pond makes. It has a carbon fiber, which is strong, light and floats. I previously carried a Brodin wood net that was basically the same size but I had trouble, with the wood net delaminating due to the constant exposure to water. The carbon fiber Fish Pond doesn’t mind the water at all. It has an extra large rubber bag that does not constantly catch flies like a cotton or nylon bag and it floats should you drop it.

Take your time don’t try to rush the job, of netting a trout. I always heard that you should be able to land a pound a minute. I have found that to be a rough guide line. Last week I was guiding on Dry Run Creek and my young client caught two large brown trout. The first was a stout nine pounder that came in an epic struggle (the lads parents were filming the fight and it took exactly eleven minutes and twenty six seconds). The next trout, an eight pounder, took less than a minute to land. All trout are different. Do not try to net them until the fish are on the surface.

Approach the struggling trout stealthfully. Try not to spook the trout. Last week I was guiding another client, a fifteen year old boy. We had landed two trophy brown trout and we had another one on. This trout was significantly larger than the other two. I had been taking my time waiting for my chance to land it. The dad lost his patience and decided to land the trout himself. He asked for the net. I knew he would lose the fish, when I handed it to him. He jumped in the water, took a couple of quick steps and swung the net at the trout. The big fish spooked and dov under a log breaking off, in the process. The whole thing lasted two seconds.

It’s not as easy as it looks. Carry a big net, take your time and move carefully. The payoff is incredible!

John Berry

berrybrothers@infodash.com - www.berrybrothersguides.com - (870) 435-2169 - (870) 404-8015

September 8, 2017 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

HIGH WATER NO PROBLEM
BY JOHN BERRY

Last week I guided two anglers from Kansas, Craig and Clint. Craig had fly fished a few times but Clint had never cast a fly rod. We began the day with a quick casting lesson. In a few minutes both were casting twenty feet, with ease. That is really all the distance you need, to fish from a boat.

We were fishing, from a boat, because the Corps of Engineers were running about 250 megawatts, the rough equivalent of 17,000 cubic feet per second or a little over five full generators. I say the rough equivalent because the Corps of Engineers website is unable, to display turbine release at the present. I have been relying, on the tailwater feet above mean sea level, in order, to determine the estimated turbine release.

We chose to fish at Rim Shoals because there is a great ramp, to launch our boat in heavy water and the fishing there is consistently good, in low or high water. There are also porta potties and shaded picnic tables. The weather was benign. It was unseasonably cool. I wore a wind shirt until around noon. It was sunny with a light breeze.

I had carefully rigged their rods for deep water. I chose a seven and a half 4X leader with a one and a half foot 5X fluorocarbon tippet with a size 12 Y2K lead fly and a bead head pheasant tail nymph as a dropper, on an eighteen inch 5X fluorocarbon tippet. I crimped on an AAA and a BB split shot above the leader tippet connection knot (that way they will not slip). I then attached a Thingamabobber strike indicator at the very top, of the leader. This means that I was fishing at a ten and a half foot depth.

We began drifting, in my White River Jon boat, and Craig was soon, into a good trout, a rainbow about fifteen inches long. He caught four more, in quick succession. Clint was struggling. I had him sitting in the back seat next to me so that I could coach him. He was casting well enough so I concentrated, on his drift. I taught him how to effectively mend and when to cast, in order, to achieve a perfect drag free drift. Then we worked, on setting the hook.

He learned quickly and was soon into a nice fish. He horsed it a bit too much. I worked with him on how to fight a fish and he landed one and then another. By noon he had a limit of nice trout. Craig had ten. We broke for lunch and returned to the river as quickly as possible.

The afternoon was more productive. We landed a couple, of dozen, more including a couple, of fat eighteen inch rainbows, a good brown and a decent cutthroat. We ended the day with approximately forty fish, a great day anywhere.

A couple, of novice fly fishers (including a first timer), took on high water and did well, with a bit of coaching. Imagine how well you could do.

August 25, 2017 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

KEEPING A FISHING JOURNAL
BY JOHN BERRY

One way, to improve your fishing, is, to keep a fishing journal. The idea is to write down all the applicable information pertaining to the day you spent fishing. That way you have a reference, for planning your next day, on the river. My friend, Mike, has been recording all of his days, on the water, in a leather fishing journal, for years. If he cannot get on the water he reviews the log to relive memorable days fishing. I maintain my journal, on my computer, and refer to it often. I use it to prepare, for upcoming days, on the river and I refer to it, when writing about my day, on the river.

I always record the weather. I like to know the high and low temperature, whether it is sunny or overcast, how windy it was, any type of precipitation on that day or the previous one and if a major front comes through. I also record what I wear, if it is particularly hot, cold or wet. I follow up this with a notation of how that worked out. Did I need another layer or did my feet get cold or wet?

I take a bit of time to record the water conditions. This affects the quality of the fishing more than anything. I always record where I was fishing and how much water they were running. If there was a big push, what time did it reach where I was fishing and how did it affect the catch? I always record that in cubic feet per second because that is the most precise measurement. I will make a note about the most productive spots that I fished.

Several guides and anglers that I know fish with a clicker and carefully record each and every fish that they catch. They then record this and even tally up how many trout they catch in a year. This is more like accounting, to me, than fishing. If I wanted to keep up with a bunch of numbers, I would still be a CPA. I will post an estimate on a really productive day.

What I am more interested in is, to record the catching of an interesting trout. When I land a nice brook or a Bonneville cutthroat I make a note of it. A big brown or a rainbow is also noted. I always record the fly I used and exactly where it was caught. I always note what the most productive fly was, on that day.

Finally I write down anything out of the ordinary that happened, on that particular day. I once observed fourteen deer swim the White River at Rim Shoals. On another day, I had to stop my car to allow a flock of turkeys (over fifty birds) cross the road as I was driving, into the Dam Three Access, on the Spring River.

My most memorable experience was when I watched Dave Whitlock and Flip Pallot film a television show (an episode of the Walker’s Cay Chronicles) at Rim Shoals. It was fascinating just to watch the process. I was amazed to watch Dave’s ability with a dry fly. The most interesting thing was that I had walked by that stretch of water for decades and never stopped to fish it. I now fish there any chance that I get. It is now one of my favorite spots to fish dry flies.

I have been keeping a journal for almost twenty years and really enjoy the process. It has been a great source of information of past trips and has made me a better fly fisher. I think that it can do the same for you.

August 18, 2017 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOAT
BY JOHN BERRY

One of the things that I hear every day is where can I fish, on this high water? The best advice that I can give is, to fish from a boat. They are safer, more comfortable and a more effective fishing platform than wading. However there are many anglers that do not have access to a boat or they just don’t like, to fish from one. Some fly fishers just prefer to wade fish. I am one of them. When I wade, I feel that I am one, with the river. I am one, of a few local guides, that will book wade trips. Sometimes I feel like I am the only fly fishing guide, in Baxter County, that owns a pair, of waders.

What do you do when they are running a lot, of water, and you don’t own a boat? I say think outside the boat. We are lucky here in that we have a lot of alternatives to wade, when they are running big water here, in the Twin Lakes Area.

The first stream that I think of is the Norfork Tail Water, the stream below Norfork Dam. Unlike Bull Shoals Dam there is no series of dams above Norfork Dam and as a result the Norfork draws down more quickly and is wadable more often and more consistently than the White. The trick here is that you need to carefully monitor, the SWPA (Southwestern Power Administration) website, to see, when the prediction indicates a period, of wadable water. I do this every day. I caught a nice opportunity yesterday. The Norfork was scheduled to be off until 10:00 AM. I got there at 6:00 AM and got in four hours of fishing before the water came up.

You can fish the North Fork of the White. This is the same stream but is the river above Norfork Dam. This is a great trout stream with some really nice wild rainbows. There is no dam on this section. It is a free flow stream, until it gets, to Norfork Dam. My wife Lori and I fish it from time to time and always enjoy it. My favorite fly here is a big stone fly nymph.

If you feel like driving a bit further, try the Spring River. This is a very special stream to me. It is a spring fed river stocked, with trout. This is where I learned, to fly fish, and where I met Lori. The only problem, with this river, is that it is very popular, with canoeists and kayakers. During warm weather it can get quite crowded with boaters that have little concern about disturbing your fishing. I generally reserve the Spring River, for colder weather, when there are fewer boats. My favorite fly here is an olive woolly bugger.

If you want something a bit closer try Crooked Creek. It is a free flow smallmouth bass stream. It is Lori’s favorite. The most convenient place for me to fish is at the Fred Berry Conservation Center. There is a Catch and Release Section there that fishes well. Make sure that your vehicle is outside the Fred Berry Conservation fence before 4:30 PM because they lock the gate then. My favorite fly for this section is the Clouser Minnow.

Finally another spot that probably has some of the most spectacular scenery around is the Buffalo River. This is a National River and is basically a National Park surrounding the Buffalo River. There are loads of accesses and 135 miles of river to take in. I prefer to fish the lower forty or so miles. In warm weather, there can be canoes and kayaks on the water but not as many as the Spring River. There is even a herd of Elk. My favorite fly here is the Clouser Minnow.

As you can see, there are plenty, of alternatives, to wade, when they are running water. I fish all, of them, from time to time, when I want some wadable water. Go out there and give them a try.

John Berry

August 4, 2017 - Submitted by Berry Brothers Guides

WHEN WILL WE GET WADABLE WATER?
BY JOHN BERRY

The most often asked question that both local and out of town anglers ask me is, when will we get wadable water? I understand their concern. We have received precious little this summer. I myself prefer wade fishing and I can count the days that I have been able to wade this summer, on one hand. To say that there is some pent up demand is an understatement.

Our troubles began in early April. Before that we had some really great wading conditions that had me wading low water several times a week. The out of nowhere we had a series, of major rain events. There was a lot of runoff and the lake levels surged upward. At one time, all of the lakes in the White River System (Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals and Norfork) were over the top of flood pool. The Corps of Engineers open the spill gates, on all of the dams, in an effort to get the dams below flood pool. This resulted, in severe flooding, on the White and Norfork Rivers. Now after four months, of high water, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. The lakes are beginning to drop.

The White River is a series of lakes. Normal procedures call for the lake level at Table Rock to be dropped first. Today the lake level at table rock is only an inch or two above the top of power pool. That means that all of the water that has been running to draw down Table Rock will not be coming into Bull Shoals Lake. This will allow Bull Shoals to fall more quickly. Beaver is usually down when Bull is near to Power pool. This happens fast.

Then there is the funnel effect. As the water in a lake falls, the surface area of the lake is reduced. As this occurs the water level, of the lake, falls quicker just like the water, in a funnel. Therefore, as the lake level comes down, it will fall faster, with the same level, of generation.

In addition, they have increased the level of generation this week. The lake level at Bull Shoals is a bit less than twenty four feet above the top of power pool. The lake level is currently falling about one and a half feet per week. At that rate, it would take about sixteen weeks for Bull Shoals to fall to the top of power pool but with the funnel effect that could be substantially quicker. I predict that Bull Shoals could drop to power pool in ten to twelve weeks. They usually draw down Norfork at about the same rate. That would result in the possibility of wadable water in mid to late October.

This prediction is based on the same level of generation that we now have and that we do not have a major rain event.I know that that sounds like a long time but it will be here before you know it. In the meantime, the fly fishing from a boat is good some days and excellent on others.

John Berry